Lecture Series Addresses Shared Values

Speakers at Santa Clara University will take listeners inside the White House after the 9/11 attacks, discuss the relationship between professional sports teams and their communities, and explore the gap between rhetoric and reality when it comes to Muslims in America.

The eighth annual President’s Speaker Series will feature former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York, and author Eboo Patel offering their perspectives on this year’s theme: "Shared Values in the World, the Nation, and the Community."

All events will be held in the Louis B. Mayer Theatre. General admission tickets cost $25 each. For tickets or more information, go to www.scu.edu/speakerseries or call 1-408-554-4015.

Condoleezza Rice

Oct. 10, 2013, 7:30 p.m.

Rice was in the White House following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and involved in negotiations over Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and Lebanon. Her 2011 book, No Higher Honor: A Memoir of My Years in Washington, details those experiences, which she will reflect on in her talk.

Jed York

Jan. 15, 2014, 7:30 p.m.

As CEO of the San Francisco 49ers, Jed York has overseen on-field success, with a trip to the Super Bowl. The team has also started building a new high-tech, LEED-certified stadium in Santa Clara, which will host the 2016 Super Bowl.

York will address why some professional sports teams forge good relationships with their communities, while others seem to be at odds with them.

Eboo Patel

April 9, 2014, 7:30 p.m.

Eboo Patel will discuss the increasingly mainstream rhetoric that paints Islam as menacing and anti-American. Can the forces of pluralism defeat the forces of prejudice?

Patel, who is the founder and executive director of Interfaith Youth Core, explores interfaith communication in his writing and work. His most recent book is Sacred Ground: Pluralism, Prejudice, and the Promise of America.